Physics in Your World

This photo shows a version of Hero's Engine, in this case a flask of water with two openings, pivoted so it can rotate. Click on the photo to see what happens after the Bunsen burner has brought the water to a boil. Two jets of steam shoot out, and the flask spins, in a demonstration of action and reaction (see Rocket Principles and Newton's laws). The reaction forces produce a torque that spins the flask.

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From Physics Research

Robert Goddard is shown here (hi-res image) in 1926 with the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which reached an altitude of 41 feet. For more information, see the NASA page Robert Goddard: a Man and His Rocket. (You'll find out how his work--and his understanding of Newtonian mechanics--was trashed in a 1920 New York Times editorial, which the Times retracted just after the launch of Apollo 11.)